The Horse’s Mouth Storytelling Night is a monthly gathering of folks all over the Lexington community for one single purpose: to listen to true stories told by ordinary people. Each Storytelling Night features six storytellers who will share their ten-minute stories on that month’s theme. The stories you hear might be funny, sad, exciting, ordinary, or bizarre. But no matter what, they are true and told straight from the “horse’s mouth.” It’s a fun and relaxed way to share the strangeness that we call “real life.”

Why a true storytelling night? Because everyone has a story. In fact, everyone has several stories to share. Stories about our lives are what allow us to connect with each other, to see the ordinary weirdness that we all experience from time to time. You have a story to tell, and we want to hear it.

﻿GOT A STORY?

If you would like to share your own story in an upcoming Storytelling Night, send an email to jenny.rice@uky.edu and describe the story you would like to tell on that month’s theme. Before you submit, please read carefully our guidelines to be sure your story fits the goals of The Horse’s Mouth Storytelling Nights.

To request a spot, please indicate each of the following in your email:

● Which night/theme you want to participate in. ● The title of your story (if you wish to have have one)● A summary of your story. Please give about 4-5 sentences of description, helping us to understand what your story will be about and how it relates to that month’s theme.

Horse’s Mouth Guidelines:

1. Your story must be true. And it should be a story. While we all love a good work of fiction or poetry, this night is devoted to your real life. Everyone has at least one unique story to tell, and that’s what we want to hear.

2. No rants, no preaching, no speeches. This should be a story with a beginning, middle, and end.

3. We ask that you write your story out so that you can read it. 10-minute stories are somewhere around 1,400 written words, depending on how you deliver them. Please be sure to practice a few times before you show up to that night’s event.

4. Good stories often involve details that are less than G-rated. We will never ask you to censor your language or your story’s details. However, we do ask that you be respectful of your audience. Do not use insensitive language or stereotypes about any particular group of people. This means that racist, sexist, homophobic, or other intolerant language is NOT okay. Your story should not single out certain groups people.

5. Think about your opening lines as a “hook.” All good stories have a single feature in common: they leave the audience wondering what happens next. One of the best stories we hear recently began with a pretty terrific hook: “The summer when I died was one of the best summers of my life.” (Turned out to be a story about an obituary mix-up in a local newspaper!)

6. Endings are also important! You don’t need to tell us what the story “means” in a grand way. But think about leaving on a strong note.

7. Make sure you stick to 10-minutes and NO MORE. Ten minutes of story are around 1,400 words. Practice and time yourself before the night itself!